The lovely Cocoa in her portrait pose. Cocoa has so many quirks. She's often called Cocoa Loco or Cocoa Puff. She came to us a very frightened and "damaged" rescue, skin and bones, afraid of anything that looked like a stick - mopping the floor was fun, she'd pee all over herself when the mop came out - afraid of men, especially men in baseball caps. It took her a year to bond with my husband.
We call her our Catholic dog. Anytime something has been done wrong, a hole in the yard, etc., Cocoa is completely guilt-ridden, even when the guilty party is actually Buck. She's very vocal, will sing along with humans, will "talk" to us especially when she's not happy with something like being left behind. Needy pretty much describes her. And jealous. Petting Buck brings forth complaints from Cocoa. Not paying attention makes her sad. She's a trip.
After 7 years with us, Cocoa is much calmer than when we first brought her home. She's still a bit of a spook though and likely always will be. Not a dog for those who want an easy-to-raise type. I adore her. Cocoa just oozes love. She's very, very smart & understands a lot of words. On a day when I couldn't find my father-in-law, and at 100+ that's dangerous, I asked Cocoa "where's Grandpa Hughie?" She took off, looked back over her shoulder like "aren't you coming" and led me straight to the garage. Yep, there he was.
And, crazy colors? Well, I've been so focused on pet portraits lately that all the wilder colors are missing from what I've been using and I'm the one missing out! All those pinks and purples and mixtures of yellow/green or hints of lavender - they just don't show up in the hair of dogs and cats. I'm feeling the need to visit Anza Borrego desert for spring wildflowers, take some photos, come home & paint those. Or, how about a pet or two done in crazy colors???? That might be fun. Maybe I'll take my own dark brown Cocoa and paint her twice, once as she is and once as she might be in a more technicolor version.
If ever a dog deserved to be painted in technicolor, it's Cocoa Loco. I think that may be the answer. Stay tuned.
